The Idea of Politics: History and Theory
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Idea of Politics: History and Theory
King’s College, University of Cambridge
16 - 17 March, 2009
Please send abstracts of 300 words along with your name and departmental affiliation to: politicsconference@cam.ac.uk
The deadline for abstracts is 20 December, 2008.
If you wish to attend the conference, email us with your name and affiliation (if any) by 20 February, 2009.
Organizers:
- Hugo Drochon (hpph2@cam.ac.uk)
- Tom Hopkins (th268@cam.ac.uk)
- Suzanne Marcuzzi (smm60@cam.ac.uk)
- Sophie Nicholls (sebn2@cam.ac.uk)
- Lauri Tähtinen (lmot2@cam.ac.uk)
‘Politics’ is undoubtedly one of the master concepts of the modern age, yet its meaning, contours, and boundaries are rarely interrogated. Is the idea of politics amorphous and constantly shifting and changing over time? Or is politics determined by certain fundamentals of human nature and the inescapable realities of human association? One way to begin to understand the idea of politics is through the canonical texts of Western political thought. These texts have shaped the conceptual possibilities for politics in the West, and allow us to trace the ongoing struggles to understand politics and to offer us visions of a better political future. In this sense, history and theory must go hand-in-hand: we must have an idea of what politics is in order to study what it has been in the past, and we must understand its history to see what it has become and what possibilities are open for tomorrow.
Following the success of last year’s session, ‘The State, etc.: Imagining the Political Order, 1500-1900’, we are inviting abstracts for a second graduate conference in political thought and intellectual history. The conference will also celebrate the establishment of the Centre for Political Thought in Cambridge by bringing together some of the best recent graduate research in the field from around the world. It is expected that the conference will be of particular interest to graduate students working in ancient, medieval and modern history, particularly in the history of political thought, intellectual and cultural history, as well as to those engaged in research in related disciplines such as political theory, gender studies, classics and philosophy.
Questions for discussion may include:
- How have understandings of politics evolved through history?
- How has politics been shaped by historical contingency?
- What relationship does politics stand in to other disciplines, such as moral philosophy, economics or the social sciences? How has this changed over time?
- How is the body politic constituted?
- Is politics limited to the polis? What are the boundaries of the polity?
- Is politics ‘real’?
- What power relations are involved in defining politics?
- How should we approach the study of politics in the present day?
The conference aims to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion. We seek papers of 20 minutes and work in progress is particularly welcome. Each panel will be followed by a general discussion. Our goal is to provide a forum for graduate students to present ongoing research and receive feedback in a collegial and supportive atmosphere.
Accommodation will be available for speakers from outside Cambridge, and some funding may be available for travel within the UK.
